[closed] Plugin Moderator and Selective Enforcement (5 posts)

Recently, I had a plugin disabled by a known mod because the plugin has from 2007 displayed a line at the bottom stating the site was secured (and the plugin name). In 2009(ish) #10 was added to the guidelines stating that any plugin that is "added" to the repo couldn't contain a credit/byline that is not disabled by default. MANY smaller plugins (some with large communities) have been "knocked off" the repo because they have a link somewhere in the plugin that displays in public, among this list is my own plugin, CForms, SimpleForums (a ridiculously large community project), just off the top of my head.

Secondary to that, my own plugin did not include the "secured by" by-line for SEO, in fact the "link" was rel="nofollow" meaning search engines may follow it, but Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc wouldn't give any rank to our plugin's page because of it.

The purpose of the link was as discussed several times with the community, security. Our plugin was specifically design to combat bots -- of any kind, and one of the first means of deturance is letting the bot know what's running on the site. Bots only speak in text, they don't use common sense, and they certainly aren't telepathic. So stopping a site from being listed in a database that is sold "SEO Companies" that spam sites is to have a byline that these bots ALREADY specifically look for so they don't waste resources.

Instead, it would seem the Mod [Personal attack moderated] When WP first started it was "Do no harm" which seems to have now escalated to that mods don't care what harm is caused, so long as the action is in compliance with the guidelines.

My questions are obvious:
1) How come WP Core does not adhere to this guideline? Why must users delete and remove SEVERAL linkbacks to WP.org?
2) How come BuddyPress is exempt from this clause?
3) How come other plugins that are WP sponsored are seemingly also exempt from other clauses?

If, however, your actions escalate, you'll get banned. There's no one behavior to point at for this, but basically if you start lashing out, calling people names, making accusations, or challenging the authority of the moderators, you may end up banned. The basic rule of thumb is don't act like a bad person. You're an adult, you know how to behave. We expect you to do it, and if you don't, or can't, you will be banned.